This application is related to copending, commonly assigned application entitled "Web-Based Administration of IP Tunneling on Internet Firewalls" by T. Shrader, Ser. No. 08/773,542, filed Dec. 23, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,666, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
This application relates generally to security systems in a distributed computer network. More particularly, it relates to a web-based interface for administering IP filtering on a firewall computer such as that would be found between the non-secure Internet and a secure company Intranet.
The burdens on Internet administrators have been rapidly growing both in volume and in complexity. Chief among them is the need for corporate administrators to administer Internet firewalls which connect a company's or organization's secure Intranet to the outside unsecure Internet. Generally in the prior art, the interface for firewall is a command line or SMIT interface which allows the administrator to manage Internet firewall characteristics and operations. These types of interfaces require a the memorization of many commands. Further, administrators are required to piece together output from different actions to administrate the filter rules which govern the firewall. This is an obvious inconvenience as administrators must remember or write down information from a plurality of screens. In short, the interface is anything but user friendly.
The present invention described below provides a user friendly interface for the administration of IP filtering on an Internet firewall.